Though the current project started as a series of posts charting my grief journey after the death of my mother, I am no longer actively grieving. Now, the blog charts a conversation in living, mainly whatever I want it to be. This is an activity that goes well with the theme of this blog (updated 2018). The Sense of Doubt blog is dedicated to my motto: EMBRACE UNCERTAINTY. I promote questioning everything because just when I think I know something is concrete, I find out that it’s not.
Hey, Mom! The Explanation.
Here's the permanent dedicated link to my first Hey, Mom! post and the explanation of the feature it contains.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2302.28 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2797 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2932 - New Peter Gabriel - "Panopticom" - Music Monday for 2302.27
It's March 13th as I post this. That's stardate 2303.13. That's a new days behind record, sadly.
Between work and then getting a terrible stomach flu, I have been either too busy to devote time to the blog or too sick. And, for the record, though I was going to go to school and hold exam sessions that I am not required to hold, I chose not to go, less because I am still not feeling well but because my wife has contracted the stomach flu evil thing, and I am staying here to care for her.
Given all these problems maintaining my blog schedule makes me question the good sense of attempting to maintain a daily schedule that I cannot always keep. Makes sense right?
And yet, I do not always fall behind, or at least, I do not keep setting new records of how far behind I am on the blog work. Still, one would think I might abandon the daily schedule.
And yet, also, I am not giving up. I will catch up again.
Actually, I have the next six posts already "in the can" as they say in the music industry, and so I can get closer to current pretty quickly.
After all, my goal is to get caught up, get ahead, and have the luxury to produce some original work more often and make the blog more sustainable.
In any case, now, new record. Given that yesterday's post has been published for some time though I am just now pushing it to social media that one does not count. So, starting from today's post, new record:
new record = 15 days behind.
Today's the 27th and tomorrow the 28th, so two days in February, and then 13 days in March (as I am very close to publishing time on the day I write this), and so by my count that's 15 days.
I am happy with this post.
New Peter Gabriel music is an amazing thing. Very cool. Peter Gabriel has been one of my very favorite artists since buying his first solo album without knowing much of anything about it or him and falling in love with "Solsbury Hill." This purchase came during my post-finding-of-Pink-Floyd exploration into other artists, which included Bruce Springsteen, David Bowie, Gary Numan, Kraftwerk, Kansas, the Cars, Steely Dan, Talking Heads, Rickie Lee Jones, and additional Pink Floyd.
This is the first of the new songs by Gabriel that was released in January. There have been two since that I will surely feature separately, later this month (to get current), and then I can re-post them all monthly along with Gabriel's on the full moon schedule.
Panopticom (Bright-Side Mix) by Peter Gabriel, released on the full moon 6 January 2023. This is the first song to be revealed from the album i/o.
The Bright-Side Mix is by Mark 'Spike' Stent and the track is accompanied by a cover image by the artist David Spriggs.
Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, Panopticom was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London.
‘The first song is based on an idea I have been working on to initiate the creation of an infinitely expandable accessible data globe: The Panopticom,’ says Gabriel. ‘We are beginning to connect a like-minded group of people who might be able to bring this to life, to allow the world to see itself better and understand more of what’s really going on.’
Musically Panopticom drives along powered by the engine-room of long-time collaborators Tony Levin, David Rhodes and Manu Katché, underpinned by haunting electronics from Brian Eno. Additional backing vocals from Ríoghnach Connolly of The Breath. The lyric is, in part, inspired by the extraordinary work of three groups, Forensic Architecture, Bellingcat and the Gabriel co-founded pioneering human rights organisation WITNESS.
The release of Panopticom on the full moon is no coincidence and in true Gabriel fashion the approach for i/o will be a little different from the norm. The lunar phases will guide the release plan in 2023, with a new song revealed each full moon.
‘Some of what I’m writing about this time is the idea that we seem incredibly capable of destroying the planet that gave us birth and that unless we find ways to reconnect ourselves to nature and to the natural world we are going to lose a lot. A simple way of thinking about where we fit in to all of this is looking up at the sky… and the moon has always drawn me to it.’
Each new release of music will come with a specific piece of art, ‘we’ve been looking at the work of many hundreds of artists,’ says Gabriel, and Panopticom features the work ‘Red Gravity’ by David Spriggs.
‘It was the theme of surveillance that connected me with the work of David Spriggs because he’d done a piece relating to that. David does this amazing stuff using many layers of transparencies so you get these strange creations with a real intensity to them. Part of what he does is imagine what art might look like a few years in the future and then try and create accordingly and I think he’s done that very successfully in this particular piece.’
The Panopticom (Dark-Side Mix) has been released today, 21 January, on the new moon.
The plan is for all the songs from i/o – that are released each month – to come with both a Bright-Side and Dark-Side Mix, with releases on the full and new moons. This Dark-Side Mix is by Tchad Blake, who previously mixed Peter’s Up album.
Peter explains things further:
I’m lucky to have two of the world’s best mix engineers; Tchad Blake and Mark ‘Spike’ Stent, working with me on the music from i/o. Rather than choosing only one of their mixes to release I have decided that people should be able to hear all the great work that they are both doing.
I intend to ask them to mix each month’s song, with Spike’s mixes being called the Bright-Side and Tchad’s the Dark-Side. Whether you hear the Bright-Side or the Dark-Side first will vary each full moon, depending on the order we decide to release them.
I know this amount of detail is not for everyone, but I hope those that are into their music production will enjoy their different interpretations – pg.
Peter Gabriel's Full Moon update for January 2023, where he discusses the launch of Panopticom, the first track to be taken from the forthcoming album i/o.
Listen to the full track Panopticom (Bright Side Mix) here: https://lnk.to/PG21
‘The first song is based on an idea I have been working on to initiate the creation of an infinitely expandable accessible data globe: The Panopticom,’ says Gabriel. ‘We are beginning to connect a like-minded group of people who might be able to bring this to life, to allow the world to see itself better and understand more of what’s really going on.’
Written and produced by Peter Gabriel, Panopticom was recorded at Real World Studios in Wiltshire and The Beehive in London. The track is accompanied by a cover image by the artist David Spriggs.
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2302.27 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2796 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
A Sense of Doubt blog post #2931 - Recently I have enjoyed these Comic Books - CB Sunday for 2302.26
It's March 7th as I publish this post, which is now nine days late. Following this one, which took a while to put together, I am publishing a bunch of quick and simple posts in order to catch up.
Thanks for tuning in.
If you ever have visited my blog before, you know that I read a lot of comic books. With is post, I am featuring just a few of the comics I recently read that I liked. Most are found at this Comic Book Roundup page: https://comicbookroundup.com/comic-books/release-dates/2023-01-04
The first of these comics is probably the one I have been anticipating the most: Scarlet Witch.
Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, has never had her own monthly comic book and other than her back story has never really had an identity outside of the Avengers.
I like that this comic series attempts to establish an occupation for Wanda outside of her hero work and magic.
Fittingly, Wanda has opened a magic shop that features a magic door. The door opens for those who are in need of her help and bring those in need to the Scarlet Witch so that she can use her magic and her probability-altering hexes to solve the problems plaguing others.
The presumed dead -- though is anyone ever really dead in the Marvel universe -- Quicksilver, Pietro, Wanda's brother makes an appearance, of course.
Orlando's writing is at its best here, especially since I have not always adored (though liked) some of his other work. Pichelli is one of my favorite artists, and so there's no surprise in learning how much I loved just oggling the gorgeous art work in this book.
I provide one of the 10/10 reviews below.
The comic rated an 8.7 critic rating (a bit low, IMHO) and a 7.7 reader rating, which is weird as usually those are higher.
Have to copy and paste the link below to get to the content:
THE SCARLET WITCH RETURNS! There is a door that appears only to those who need it most, who have no one else in the world to turn to. On the other side of this door is the witchcraft shop. Friend or foe, human or otherwise-if your need is great and your hope is gone, there you will meet the SCARLET WITCH! Wanda Maximoff is familiar with hitting rock bottom-and now that she's finally found peace, she's pledged all her power to help others who are languishing at their lowest. But when a woman falls through Wanda's door with a terrifying story of a town gone mad, the Scarlet Witch will have to muster her wits and chaos magic to deal with an insidious threat! Comic powerhouses Steve Orlando (MARAUDERS; Midnighter) and Sara Pichelli (ULTIMATE SPIDER-MAN; SPIDER-MEN) join forces to open a groundbreaking new chapter in the Scarlet Witch's history!
Crafting a first issue is tough because it often has to hit a lot of particular checkboxes in a sense, but also just has to have the right energy to grip the reader from the word go and not let go. I’m happy to say that Scarlet Witch #1 has all that energy and manages to tick off the right number of first-issue boxes to be a delightful read. I’ve made no secret in previous reviews, namely the columns we did about The Trial of Magneto, that I’m a big Wanda fan and have not been happy with much of her use/treatment in a lot of the 2000s. For too long her sins were allowed to hang around her neck and make her a pariah in the universe at times, while many male characters that knowingly did far worse things were welcomed into the fold time and time again.
I mean come on, we start things off right away with her dispatching the pulled right out of the pages of the Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe forgotten antagonist called Doctor Hydro and the giant amphibious being known as Caceleon. That’s some big-time hero stuff right there, and she does it all without breaking a sweat. Right away, Steve Orlando sets up Wanda as the hero and then quickly paints her new life goal with her magic shop, and even gets us some great sibling banter/conversation as Quicksilver pops in to check on his sibling. Their voices sound quite natural and the amount of character stuff that Orlando manages to stuff in here without the book ever feeling too packed is almost unbelievable.
In service of Wanda moving forward, she’s not on some team here or looking to be part of avenging or any of that sort of stuff. In fact, the premise here is pretty simple and easy, people that need help will suddenly find themselves walking through The Last Door which brings them to Wanda so she can help. A premise like this opens the door, sorry I had to do it, to so many possible stories and reminds me very much of the type of premise one might get from some classic television where people went from city to city to help. Wanda is an A-Team of one, well not fully one since Darcy (making her comic book debut from the MCU) is there to assist (and has a secret of her own). No doubt Pietro will be around to help out now and then, like in this issue.
Doctor Hydro is a pretty deep dive, but the overall villain of this piece is less so but still kind of is in a sense. There was a time when a lot of villains were regularly used in Marvel Comics before things sort of narrowed and particular villains, those with a recognized cache, began to be used far more often (the same can be said over at the distinguished competition). Basically, your Ultrons, Dooms, Magnetos, and the like that began to feature in stories back to back, with writers wanting to give their take on them. It would have been easy to do that here, but instead, Orlando turns to Jackson Day, the Corruptor, for this story.
It works so well because of course a villain like that doing something like taking over a small town would go mostly unnoticed by the big hero groups, making it easy for there to be a way for Wanda to step in to save the day. There is also the nature of his powers, which gives us a fantastic Wanda moment that I love so much. As I noted above trauma has been around Wanda for so long, and Corruptor tries to weigh her down with it all again, but she just brushes it off and does the hero thing. Orlando easily could have avoided even referencing what Wanda has been through, but instead uses it as a good way to bolster this series’ mission statement for her as a hero.
While Orlando does Wanda justice on the writing side of things, it falls to Sara Pichelli, Elisabetta D’Amico, and Matthew Wilson to do so with the overall visuals of the issue. They knock it out of the park. Pichelli is just a fantastic artist in anything she has ever done, giving this series such a distinct, detailed, gorgeous look that is enhanced with the inks that D’Amico brings to the work. Any issue that has Quicksilver within it, even briefly, needs to have a particular energy of motion to the artwork and Pichelli has that in spades. Everything here just flows and feels real with a true weight to it, characters actually move through the world within panels and from panel to panel.
Those panels shift and change shape and size as needed, allowing Pichelli to perfectly capture the emotions and body language of every single character. We don’t need to be told how anyone is feeling because we can very much see and even feel it ourselves as we let our eyes move through the pages. No character, no matter their prevalence in the issue, feels like an empty space or is just there to take up space. This is a world that feels full and lived within, as Wanda moves through it in order to do what she can to make the world a better place.
When we do see Wanda’s abilities put into effect, they are big and bold, and magical in many cases. Chief among them is a great panel where Wanda turns a truck into water saving the driver before he can hit the ground or crashes into her. As I mentioned about other elements this is another that feels like it’s in movement, the way that the water is shown going in so many directions including already being splashed on the ground all is logical and creates a showcase for what Wanda can do.
Wilson brings a lot of that weight and depth through the colors that are added to this world, finding that beautiful mix of vivid and toned-down. Many of the elements around them such as buildings and many of the people moving through their everyday lives are very grounded toned-down colors that fit what we might see in our normal everyday life. It creates that image of this being a town that could be anywhere in Italy or the rest of the world because it feels real. Most of the more vivid pops of color are saved for the more magical and superhero elements such as Wanda and Pietro’s costumes, Corruptor, and the opening scenes.
This makes it so that those fantastical elements stand out far more from everything else, as they naturally would. If these superheroes were parading down our streets right now in the costumes as they are usually depicted on comic pages, it would be so bright and you’d notice them right away. I mean you would anyway because of their nature, but that color would surely catch the eye of even those that are engrossed in whatever their daily routine might be.
Emotions and tone are captured so well by the art and colors that Pichelli and Wilson bring to the page and are enhanced even more with the lettering that Cory Petit provides. One of the best ways to help convey those things is to set up a sort of baseline appearance to the lettering so that we instantly know what a normal level of conversation or thought might look like. Petit does that easily while making sure that those bubbles then move around the page in the most efficient and easy-to-follow way so that as we’re reading, we’re still taking in everything else connected to the words in a complete package way. It’s taking things beyond that baseline that moves lettering to the next level.
We can see on a face if someone is scared or angry or worried in some way in most cases, but we all know in real life that with our emotions our voice often changes too. To achieve that Petit drops in plenty of bolds to add emphasis to certain words, but chiefly makes sure to modulate the volume of any given bit of dialogue by expanding or shrinking the font used. Just spotting the font suddenly being smaller can tell our mind that the words are being said at a softer/quieter level than the rest of them, so we can ‘hear’ the character whispering.
Love love love when words that are powerful or important get exploded to a large colorful level in a bubble to give them that even bigger punch. We see The Last Door get a slightly bigger red namedrop on one page and then a few pages later as it actually is put to use that namedrop is huge and red and so comic booky, just as I like it. The same goes for all the big bold SFX dropping into the mix, making sure that we can perfectly envision the sound that something makes. Even if that sound isn’t something we can intrinsically recognize we still hear it in a sense.
Scarlet Witch #1 is now available from Marvel Comics.
Have to copy and paste the link below to get to the content:
One of the very best comics series lately has been Batman since Chip Zdarsky has taken over. Note that his Daredevil run is also on this page, below. Great stuff.
Inexplicably, critics gave this issue a 7.8 and users a 6.4.
It seems that many critics disliked the alternate reality trope. Sure, that trope has been used in comics many times, but when was the last time it was used in Batman? And careening out of the deadly battle with a droid Batman created called Failsafe that can beat anyone, even himself, it's a very interesting plot twist.
Here's one of the reviews that liked the new direction in which #131 goes:
Recap
Batman was defeated by his own creation, the malevolent Failsafe! Now, he's... where?
Let's do the multiverse timewarp again!
By Matt Meyer
on
Review
After the absolutely bonkers previous issue, Batman #131 was bound to be something of a letdown by comparison. I mean, Batman literally survived freefalling to Earth from outer space. And then he… lost against Failsafe. Wait, Batman lost?! Batman doesn’t lose! It’s his schtick! It doesn’t get bigger, more widescreen, more over the top than that.
Chip Zdarsky, though, is wise enough to know that he should pivot instead of try to top himself. And so in chapter one of “The Bat-Man of Gotham” (love the clever Golden Age tip of the hat), Bruce Wayne finds himself in yet another of DC’s myriad multiverse worlds. What distinguishes this one is that he’s crash-landed into a Gotham that never had a Batman, which is a great idea that could go in a plethora of different directions. Really, Zdarsky has opened himself up a buffet of options to play with here.
But instead of going all-in with the crazy, Zdarsky instead keeps things relatively street-level, as Batman puts his detective skills to work and puzzles out where he might be. After “Bat-god” being Bruce’s default mode for a tad too long, it’s refreshing to see him off-balance, out of his element, and having to rely on nothing but himself to remind readers why he’s the world’s greatest detective. No beautiful toys, no gimmicks, no JLA Watchtower or superfriends to help him out. No Robin or Bat-Family. Just the man himself, stripped down to his essence, fighting to not only survive in a world where he doesn’t automatically know every inch of it; but to also fight his way home as well.
Sound a bit familiar? Well, it should, because it’s a variation on the plot to Grant Morrison’s Return of Bruce Wayne miniseries, in which each issue found the Dark Knight Detective flung into a different era of the past, trying to piece together how to get home while also trapped in the various vicissitudes of each era. Zdarsky doesn’t take things that far here; Bruce is still Bruce, but watching him struggle to acclimate to a world not his own, where the usual rules don’t apply, means readers are treated to a Batman they usually aren’t privy to: one that doesn’t automatically have all the answers. It’s a real treat.
Of course, playing around in the multiverse again mere weeks after Dark Crisis beat readers over the head with it might feel a bit played-out to some readers. For others, this brave new world might feel a bit too tame; some still may feel that various supporting characters such as Harvey Dent and Catwoman fulfill their given new roles a bit too easily. Such complaints are valid, but given the certifiable win streak Zdarsky is on with Batman so far, I’d say the man’s more than earned the benefit of the doubt. And with that in mind, the far more grounded backup story featuring Tim Drake and Dick Grayson having a brotherly disagreement over how best to proceed in their father figure’s absence should sweep aside any nagging doubts that Zdarsky knows to always, always keep the characters at the heart of his story, no matter how high the stakes may be. That’s the mark of a confident writer.
Artistically, Batman #131 is in phenomenal hands. I honestly mistook Mike Hawthorne’s pencils for Andy Kubert’s for a hot second; that’s no small compliment. Hawthorne has been flying under the radar for far too long, waiting for a A-list project to boost him to the Majors. With Adriano Di Benedetto’s lush inks, here’s hoping that his work on “Bat-Man of Gotham” gets him the praise and opportunities he deserves. Meanwhile, Tomeu Morey’s darker-hued color palette suits the story’s tone very well indeed, rendering a world that, while not drenched in the shadows we’ve typically come to think of ruling Gotham City, at least creates a sense of foreboding around every corner. Together, the trio really does harken back to the artistic creative team on the aforementioned Return of Bruce Wayne, which was perhaps the intention all along. After all, Zdarsky hasn’t been shy about dipping his toes into Morrison’s pool thus far in this run, so perhaps that deliberation extends to the art team, as well.
As for the back-up story, Miguel Mendonca and colorist Roman Stevens choose an alternate route. Together, the bring a brighter, more Jokeriffic color scheme to “our” Gotham, creating a sense that it’s wilder in general and on the verge of spinning out of control with its protector missing in action. Mendonca draws a great Tim Drake; I’d absolutely kill to see him take over the art duties on Tim’s own book. Despite their relative closeness in age, Mendonca is able to draw noticeable physical distinctions between Nightwing and Robin, and not just the latter be a smaller mirror image of the former. There’s a sense of hurt in Tim’s movements, a vulnerability that isn’t present in Dick. And that make sense, given that Tim was the last person to see Bruce alive, and possibly witnessed his death. Of course, Tim’s a good enough detective to know that he almost certainly didn’t see what he thinks he did – and that’s a good thing, because there’s a surprise villain from Superman’s rogues gallery (who seems a natural fit in Gotham) waiting in the wings.
Final Thoughts
Batman #131 very smartly pivots direction from the high-stakes bombast of the previous issue (and arc). Character-driven and far more personal in scale (despite being a "trapped in the multiverse" story), Chip Zdarsky is proving he has what it takes to move the needle on what makes Batman Batman and redefine that for the next generation of readers in a way that honors the past yet yet recontextualizes it in bold new ways. Bravo.
Have to copy and paste the link below to get to the content:
When Captain America's allies find themselves scattered across the country with no recollection of how they got there, Steve calls in a favor with the one person he knows can help - mutant telepath Emma Frost! But what Emma finds, chills Steve Rogers to the bone...As Steve and his allies race to save a city under siege by A.I.M., the Outer Circle's ultimate assassin is revealed: Introducing M.O.D.O.C., the Mental Organism Designed Only for Control!
I have also really been enjoying this new Captain America run. I let the "official" Cap comics with the legacy numbering -- Captain America: The Symbol of Truth -- starring Sam Wilson, formerly the Falcon stack up, dropped the title, than read the stack, and then added the title back to my subscription.
I still like this title -- Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty -- more. The introduction of secret organization and a conspiracy that changes the origin of the symbol on Cap's shield is a genius idea and well executed in this series, especially as Bucky, the Winter Soldier, literally shoots his dear friend Steve to get after the secret organization by joining it.
Great stuff. This comic has been rising in my stack every month since its debut.
This issue took a great twist as the snippet above reveals.
Also, loving the re-imagining of MODOK and alteration of its name from MODOK (also written as M.O.D.O.K.; an acronym for Mental / Mobile / Mechanized Organism Designed Only for Killing) to MODOC -- Mental Organism Designed Only for Control -- unless we're to believe that there's one of each.
Critics gave this issue a 7.9/10 with users an 8.6, which is the kind of split I usually see.
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8 Writers: Jackson Lanzing and Collin Kelly Artist: Carmen Carnero Colorist: Nolan Woodard Letterer: VC’s Joe Caramagna
This story keeps rolling along nicely and I am still on board.
Captain America has woken up in the middle of Kansas with no memory of the last five days. He finds a local store and gets up to speed on how AIM has taken over lower Manhattan, complete with a bubble shield. He calls in help from Aaron Fischer of the Captains Network and rounds up his team in an abandoned rail yard. They’ve all got similar memory gaps, so Cap calls in a favor from Emma Frost to figure out what they lost. She dives into their minds and finds out they were attacked by MODOC, a new MODOK designed for mental stuff. With that all sorted out, Cap names his squad the Invaders so that they can invade Manhattan.
Comic Rating: 8/10 – Very Good.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little disappointed that Emma’s guest appearance was so short. Captain America and Emma Frost are two characters who never get to interact, and Marvel found a really special spark between them at the Hellfire Gala. Lanzing and Kelly take that spark and turn it into a freakin’ bonfire this issue, and it’s delightful! Cap is so nervous about contacting Emma, especially with his girlfriend right there. It’s adorable! And a really fun new look at Steve Rogers, who isn’t always some Boy Scout. Then Emma shows up and is written wonderfully. The whole sequence is a neat crossover and I hugely support having such fun in a comic like this one.
Poor, nervous Captain America
And Emma is only the biggest and best guest appearance. We also get Aaron Fischer, the Captain of the Railways. I didn’t read that recent Captain America comic where they introduced the Captains Network, but I skimmed it and know the gist. And the idea that Cap has some allies out there to quickly call in a pinch is fun! I’m all in. That he then uses these allies to prepare for an invasion of Manhattan to stop AIM is just great. I love where this story is going and absolutely love how all these characters are handled and juggled. This is a creative team in full command of their story and cast, knowing exactly what they’re doing and delivering good work issue after issue.
I just wish Emma hung around a bit more. She’s fun!
TL;DR: A couple guest appearances make this issue especially fun, building on a very solid foundation of escalation in the ongoing story.
Have to copy and paste the link below to get to the content:
Oddly, readers rated this comic issue a low 6.6/10 whereas critics rated it 8.5/10.
I am really liking this new arc for the horned hero, Mister Matthew Murdock, the Daredevil.
Two reviews here that are rating slightly higher than average. The tie-in with the Punisher's comic is very smart and well-executed.
DAREDEVIL #7
The promise of Matthew's vision for the island is realized complete with the flaws inherent in any system throughout Daredevil #7 in an issue that speaks to the entire run's radical reimagining of its hero's mission. That comes complete with Daredevil leading supervillains to attack police and landlords in a deeply cathartic sequence for lefties that's bound to leave everyone cheering for one of Marvel's most mocked supervillains. Both in action and conversation, the issue delivers striking poses and panel compositions with excellent silhouettes and wonderfully composed scenes of suspense. The overall emotional effect of seeing so much potential being achieved frames the inevitable reversal wonderfully in a showdown that earns its seemingly hyperbolic degree of presentation with two armies of good and evil preparing to enter the field. Daredevil delivers a riveting morality play of modern social movements set against an epic fantasy backdrop with some of Marvel Comics' greatest characters; it's a truly astounding superhero comic. -- Chase Magnett
Things have certainly escalated in the world around Daredevil. In particular for Elektra Natchios as her latest mission to try to stop The Hand went sideways. And it could’ve have gone more wrong than Elektra being caught looking as though as she was responsible for killing the President of the United States. With the video shared around the world what does this mean for the status quo of not just Elektra but Matt Murdock in the Marvel Universe? Let’s find out with Daredevil #7.
CREATIVE TEAM
Writer: Chip Zdarsky
Artist: Rafael De Latorre and Marco Checchetto
Inker: Elisabetta D’Amico
Colorist: Matthew Wilson
Letterer: Clayton Cowles
SYNOPSIS
With Elektra Natchios caught on video appearing to have murdered the President of the United States, and high tension between them, it’s decided Matt Murdock will go with a team alone as Daredevil on their latest mission.
In Charlotte, North Carolina, Daredevil leads Bullet, Speed Demon, and Stilt-Man in stopping Castlemax’s hired police from forcibly evicting apartment residents and trying to blame those residents for Castlemax-planted bombs going off.
After stopping this Daredevil confronts Castlemax’s CEO Clive Markuson to stop these forced evictions under false allegations or face the wrath of The Fist.
Daredevil warns the CEO of Castlemax about his shady business deals in Daredevil #7. Credit: Marvel Comics
Before heading back to The Fist mountain base Daredevil lets Bullet go see his son.
Returning home Elektra takes Matt to Stick to talk about the Book of the Fist revealing that Punisher is headed to Yusuhara. Bullet suddenly makes contact while fighting The Hand ninja to blame Daredevil for his son being kidnapped before being completely overwhelmed and taken by The Hand.
Matt and Elektra quickly assemble all the members of The Fist to take the war straight to Punisher, Aka, and The Hand.
Elsewhere Punisher orders Aka to protect Bullet’s son as he gets ready to face off against Daredevil and The Fist. End of issue.
REVIEW
Chip Zdarksy, Rafael De Latorre, and Marco Checchetto sure aren’t making life easy for our two Daredevils in Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios. With Daredevil #7 the honeymoon period for the newlyweds is officially over. We see that tensions rising as both Matt and Elektra are still figuring out the best way to lead The Fist against The Hand while protecting the world.
As with the previous issue, Daredevil #7 shows that taking on a leadership role is not just something easy, no matter how much experience the individual has. Because for sure, Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios have as much fighting and superhero experience as anyone in the Marvel Universe. But for all that experience both are coming into leading The Fist having worked largely as individuals. They aren’t experienced leaders like Captain America and Cyclops are.
We see how these last two issues of Daredevil that it is in having been working as solo acts are impacting the results Matt and Elektra are getting right now. With Elektra, there were errors made with how she walked into The Hand’s trap of being seen as if she was responsible for murdering the US President. Now with Matt in Daredevil #7 by just thinking that after saving the day things will settle down for a bit he opened the door for The Hand to strike hard and fast without expecting it.
These results made the opening scene between Matt and Elektra so interesting. Because we are seeing how the tension between the two co-leads and the newly married couple can’t be hidden. Even as they appear to be on the same page at the end of the issue as they head to face off against Punisher and Aka these apparent problems won’t help them. This all leads to creating more layers into Matt and Elektra’s relationship that now after being firmly established is being tested with how strong it is. That creates some more personal drama that all works into the greater story of The Fist vs The Hand war in a natural way.
Punisher and Aka are prepared to face off against Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios in Daredevil #7. Credit: Marvel Comics
On Matt’s own personal journey, we did see much more of his side of things with Daredevil #7. His mission in North Carolina put over the direction he wishes to take The Fist on. He sees them all as an extension of his belief in what superheroes should be. Having his strike team made up of ex-villains he has brought on to reform with The Fist further exemplifies what Matt is trying to do.
Now what will be something to look out for is how all of these developments will clash with how Punisher and The Hand have developed. Daredevil #7 did a much better job integrating Punisher into the story without making it feel as though you have to read his solo story. Zdarsky framed Punisher in a way that gives us enough details is doing and if you want to read more about it you can pick up his series but not required. Now that The Fist vs The Hand war will fully kick off it’ll be interesting to see how Zdarsky uses all of Punisher’s developments without making it feel like we are left out in a large portion of the narrative.
Not enough can be said about how great the artwork from Rafael De Latorre and Marco Checchetto was throughout Daredevil #7. Latorre and Checchetto have nailed down working together after collaborating at various points that the story just rolls smoothly. They capture the intense, personal moments between Matt and Elektra incredibly well. Then there is the action scene in the apartment that has a lot of great choreography. All of it makes you look forward to how crazy things will get in the war between The Fist and The Hand.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Daredevil #7 does an excellent job setting the stage for the big clash between The Fist and The Hand. Building off the previous issue, Chip Zdarksy, Rafael De Latorre, and Marco Checchetto continue to test Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios in fascinating ways. The direction things went does provide a lot of intrigue into how the Daredevil pair will deal with Punisher and Aka when facing off against The Hand.
Story Rating:9 Night Girls out of 10
Art Rating:9 Night Girls out of 10
Overall Rating:9 Night Girls out of 10
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I have been really enjoying the new Ghost Rider comic that focusing on the continuing adventures and "torments" of Johnny Blaze, the original Ghost Rider from the 1970s comic, though now others have been retconned back in time, much like the legacy of the Iron Fist, the Black Panther, The Phoenix, the Starbrand, and other legacy characters.
I bought a Ghost Rider t-shirt, which I am literally wearing right now as I type these words.
I like the introduction of Talia Warroad, an FBI agent assigned to Blaze's case due to her special knowledge and talents. There's a bit of Lisbeth Salander vibe (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) about Talia, but she's still a very unique and badass character.
This issue logged an 8/10 from critics and readers.
GHOST RIDER #10
Though this finale is rushed, Ghost Rider #10 adequately puts a cap on everything Percy and Smith have told to date. Every loose end comes together and it comes together quickly without so much as a second to breathe, all leading to one of the biggest Ghost Rider reveals in recent memory. As with previous entries in the series, this comic is just as moody and dark as the rest and this creative team is at the top of their game throughout. If one thing's for certain, it's that they're just getting started. -- Adam Barnhardt
Rating: 4 out of 5
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I ha mixed feeling about this comic. I wanted to read it, but I kept shuffling lower in my stack. In part, I did that because of the length of the comic, but also because I was a little dubious.
I have liked the World's Finest comic where this story arc had begun, and I like the Damian-Batman-Talia dynamic.
I kind of think the review stats are a bit high with a 7.9 critic rating and a 7.7 user rating.
Here's a review maybe a little lower than I would rate the comic, but I agree with the sentiment.
The bottom line for Lazarus Planet: Alpha is that this is what it looks like when what might be an interesting idea isn't given the proper space to develop. Instead of something with strong connections to narratives that readers already know, understand, and have some investment in, they get a batch of wild ideas, a hope it is heading somewhere, a mildly-interesting premise, and great art — and the artwork is really what's worth writing home about. -- Nicole Drum
- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2302.26 - 10:10
- Days ago = 2795 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
